804 replies to this topic

[Gigaton]

Jaroth Winson, on 23 April 2012 - 11:16 PM, said:

So Bryan, how does one run a unit? Say that since I know there are about 5 Clan Wolf claims, I decide to use a sub-unit within Clan Wolf e.g.5th Wolf Battle Cluster (Ghost Hunters), is that also not allowed?

Personally, I'd steer clear of forming any kind of unit emulating a Clan for now. The Clans are simply not in the game for now. There is no guarantee that Clans will support player formed units when they come (though I think "Solahma Clusters" are likely, or even given), no guarantee that you can migrate a merc corp over to such player driven unit if they do exist, and no guarentee that any "Clan" formed as merc corp will ever have access to clan 'mechs or weaponry.

If I was forming a "Clan" as merc corp, I'd roll with the setting and create a unit that emulates Wolf's Dragoons, but from different Clan. Like Bear's Cavalry ( ) or Jade Cuirassiers and so forth. Then when the clans come your unit can decide if they want to split, disband and create a new proper Clan unit (or migrate over with ingame system, if possible) or stay with IS merc corps.

[Hayashi]

Cruiser, on 23 April 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

Pfff. Only weaklings lay claim to names.

I will have you all whisper the name "Cruiser" with hushed voices and cold-sweat within weeks of the beta starting. And I will do so the hard way.

What he said. I'll respect those who can kill me, not those who can claim names. Any kid can claim to be someone, but only the ones who have skill can be someone.

[Mason Grimm]

It will be interesting to see what players decide to do now that they have this information.

For instance... the Kell Hounds are an existing canon merc unit and thus that name will not be available; KellHounds might be available or ClanSmokeJaguar might be available. It allows you to identify with your unit yet remain independant from influencing canon aspects of the universe.

OR

Like Coffi suggested; you could play a specific non-canon portion of a canon unit.

The Grimm Reaper Company could be a company within the Grey Death Legion or Grimms Reapers are a lance within a company of the Dragoons etc. Sky is the limit.

The good news is (some may kill me for saying this) but this means no one individual can influence the politics of the inner sphere as that is the domain of the devs (both MWO and the line developers). It also means that Wolfs Dragoons aren't off fighting for House Liao when they are supposed to be on Outreach training for The Big Show.

[Stormwolf]

Mason Grimm, on 24 April 2012 - 04:10 AM, said:

The good news is (some may kill me for saying this) but this means no one individual can influence the politics of the inner sphere as that is the domain of the devs (both MWO and the line developers). It also means that Wolfs Dragoons aren't off fighting for House Liao when they are supposed to be on Outreach training for The Big Show.

Good news indeed.

[Chuckie]

Kay Wolf, on 23 April 2012 - 01:14 PM, said:

This is an excellent question.

I agree that it's a real bummer that you didn't get to be the head of NWH; that's too bad, and I'm sorry you missed out.

I could care less about that.. What pissed me off was the overall high and mighty attitude.

So, I simply pulled back and let them have their little power trip, no sweat..

Just not going to be interested in joining a group like that..

And If not for this thread (That I did not start) I kept my opinion on this to myself.

Bryan Ekman, on 23 April 2012 - 07:54 PM, said:

Bingo.


That also goes for units.

So from this, it would seem PGI is going to make it so the highest you can PROBABLY "control" is a company within the larger canon units (like GDL, NWH, etc.. ).

Good thing KWSN is the farthest thing from a Canon unit

Edited by Chuckie, 24 April 2012 - 04:28 AM.

[Korbyn McColl]

rollermint, on 23 April 2012 - 10:34 PM, said:

I'm actually aware of that. (no offense taken also, no worries) But its not really hard to figure out that MWO is of a totally different scope than the previous MW/BT iterations, which are miniscule in comparison and a much more enclosed environment. MWO is much much larger which potentially could involve hundreds of thousands or even millions of players. (World of Tanks has about 5 million registered players with about 400-500k players online at peak hours across 3 regions, as a comparison).

And many of those folks I presumed, more or less, have already read the different dev blogs which sort of already settled the issue. Houses are confirmed to not be run by players, including famous units and characters.



But there are some folks already doing that, which are what I'm more or less referring to. Its the difference between you wanting to fight for Davion or any one of the Houses but claiming leadership over entire factions (characters even!) and citing some resume on some forgotten league or whatnot? Oh well It will only lead to unnecessary conflict imho, which has already happened in these boards. But it does provide for some entertaining reading though...

I also said that I understand that many are really into the lore that they want to be a part of it but they should take note of the other player run units who are at least being a bit modest and take on the names of more obscure units.

Still, the ideal thing (for me at least), is that the devs allow players to earn the right to officially join the more famous units, somehow, through in-game means (like after reaching certain criteria or requirements). They should also allow players to create and run their own units within the Houses, asap. I mean, there is a huge interest and demand for it so I wonder why its not in the game right now (they said they possibly include that feature post launch).

Well said. Couldn't agree more.

Bryan Ekman, on 23 April 2012 - 07:54 PM, said:

Bingo.


That also goes for units.

Mason Grimm, on 24 April 2012 - 04:10 AM, said:

It will be interesting to see what players decide to do now that they have this information.

For instance... the Kell Hounds are an existing canon merc unit and thus that name will not be available; KellHounds might be available or ClanSmokeJaguar might be available. It allows you to identify with your unit yet remain independant from influencing canon aspects of the universe.

OR

Like Coffi suggested; you could play a specific non-canon portion of a canon unit.

The Grimm Reaper Company could be a company within the Grey Death Legion or Grimms Reapers are a lance within a company of the Dragoons etc. Sky is the limit.

The good news is (some may kill me for saying this) but this means no one individual can influence the politics of the inner sphere as that is the domain of the devs (both MWO and the line developers). It also means that Wolfs Dragoons aren't off fighting for House Liao when they are supposed to be on Outreach training for The Big Show.

Thank you for finally clarifying this. The whole statement from the Dev Q&A (everyone knows which one I'm talking about) left a lot of questions unanswered.

As for how we'll handle this, we've had a plan in the works for months now. We will still be Northwind Highlanders, but we will use an alternative name. Which one we pick will depend on the number of characters permitted in merc names, probably, but I can assure you it won't be the Northwind Lumberjacks. ,-)

(snip snip)

Edited by Mason Grimm, 24 April 2012 - 08:50 AM.

[Listless Nomad]

Bryan Ekman, on 23 April 2012 - 07:54 PM, said:

Bingo.


That also goes for units.

Thanks for the reply Bryan. When you say that goes for units too, do you mean important units or all canon units? He unit I'm a part of 1st Robinson Rangers, is a canon unit, but largely obscure all the way up to operation bulldog. Will we be allowed to keep our name, or should we enact our contingency plans? Thanks for taking the time to read the thread.

[Bryan Ekman]

I'm going to do a quick write up. Hold tight until later today (PDT).

[ColonelKiel]

Bryan Ekman, on 24 April 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

I'm going to do a quick write up. Hold tight until later today (PDT).

I think that would be very useful and much appreciated. I think people are reading FAR too much into the handful of OFFICIAL words from OFFICIAL Sources at PGI on this matter.

People are marching off cliffs over these words and trying to wring from them as much meaning as they can and there really is nothing there to wring out of them.

Looking forward to some official clarification on this issue.

[Listless Nomad]

Bryan Ekman, on 24 April 2012 - 06:11 AM, said:

I'm going to do a quick write up. Hold tight until later today (PDT).

Much appreciated Bryan. I think that will put a lot of people's minds at ease.

[Tyr Gunn]

Would this be an appropriate time and place to scream, "They may take our names, but they'll never take.... OUR FREEDOM!"

No? Just me?

Either way, I just want to echo what DevilMan said. Whether PGI allows us to use the name Northwind Highlanders or not, we ARE Highlanders, and we will be representing ourselves thusly in the game. The majority of our members are drawn to the Highlanders for cultural reasons. Most all of us are of Scottish descent and those who are not, generally have a Celtic connection of some sort. This means that the Highlanders appeal to them.

To quote Shakespeare; a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. This is profound, because even if PGI locks us out, we ARE Highlanders, and our affections for this cannon unit are culturally motivated. I dare anyone to call me out for my culturally motivated choices and suggest they're wrong. I think you'll find that crosses a different sort of line than simply calling me "lame" or "wanna be pretender". Just sayin'.

Edited by Tyr Gunn, 24 April 2012 - 07:46 AM.

[Felbombling]

This is serious work for some people and other people could care less. The devs will do what they have to do, at any rate. I don't see a problem with 33 different Grey Death Legions running around, but it would be interesting to see them face each other for the same planet. The only situation I think would be a problem would be when some guy who thinks his unit is the end all be all decides that he has the right to exclude other players from the party. It will happen, sadly, so the dev guys should be prepared for it. Honestly, I made my unit name as a joke for the forums, but who is to say someone won't form the unit and claim the name and logo?

[AdamBaines]

My feeling on this is that no one should be able to lay claim on Canon unit names, Merc, Pirate, House, etc. It should have to be earned. Ok so you have kicked booty a ton in House Marik in the 13th Marik Millitia, so now your invited to join Rolling Thunder or the Knights. Maybe your a Merc running a private corp and been making good on your contracts? Cool. Wolf's Dragoons (controlled by the Dev team) notice and you get an offer to join. Or there is the opposite. You have been getting your tooshie handed to you as a merc, and so you can only get employment with the dregs like Wilson's Hussars. You can always go and do your own thing as your own merc group, but if you want to play a canon unit, then you have to join them and follow their CoC until you get to a point where you can make the decisions. That's what seems fair. Earn your place and unit name if you want a Canon unit or any of their sub units (ie The Black Widow Company).

EDIT: Yes I know the Rangers are a Canon unit. I will be very excited if I have to drop it if it becomes protected.

Edited by AdamBaines, 24 April 2012 - 07:03 AM.

[Listless Nomad]

AdamBaines, on 24 April 2012 - 06:57 AM, said:

My feeling on this is that no one should be able to lay claim on Canon unit names, Merc, Pirate, House, etc. It should have to be earned. Ok so you have kicked booty a ton in House Marik in the 13th Marik Millitia, so now your invited to join Rolling Thunder or the Knights. Maybe your a Merc running a private corp and been making good on your contracts? Cool. Wolf's Dragoons (controlled by the Dev team) notice and you get an offer to join. Or there is the opposite. You have been getting your tooshie handed to you as a merc, and so you can only get employment with the dregs like Wilson's Hussars. You can always go and do your own thing as your own merc group, but if you want to play a canon unit, then you have to join them and follow their CoC until you get to a point where you can make the decisions. That's what seems fair. Earn your place and unit name if you want a Canon unit or any of their sub units (ie The Black Widow Company).

EDIT: Yes I know the Rangers are a Canon unit. I will be very excited if I have to drop it if it becomes protected.

Not a half bad idea Adam - but it leads into player controlled houses ("units") and the cluster that can become (see AFFS CoC thread). I'm very interested to see what Bryan has to say on the matter, but I dont expect to hear much. I feel like this needs to be addressed in a full Dev Blog, and I fear that Bryan won't be able to give too much away. That being said, I hope I can expect at least some clarification - or a listing of the Unit names that will be disallowed, so that people can prepare.

[AdamBaines]

Listless Nomad, on 24 April 2012 - 07:37 AM, said:

Not a half bad idea Adam - but it leads into player controlled houses ("units") and the cluster that can become (see AFFS CoC thread). I'm very interested to see what Bryan has to say on the matter, but I dont expect to hear much. I feel like this needs to be addressed in a full Dev Blog, and I fear that Bryan won't be able to give too much away. That being said, I hope I can expect at least some clarification - or a listing of the Unit names that will be disallowed, so that people can prepare.

Your right on with that, and player controlled Houses would get ugly for sure. I just want to see people earn what they lay claim to. I also am looking forward to his post on this but don't expect to much. But really, any info on this would be great to hear.

On a side note, I appreciate your attitude and the way you go about your business on things in this board Nomad.

[Listless Nomad]

...moving on.

AdamBaines, on 24 April 2012 - 07:45 AM, said:

Your right on with that, and player controlled Houses would get ugly for sure. I just want to see people earn what they lay claim to. I also am looking forward to his post on this but don't expect to much. But really, any info on this would be great to hear.

On a side note, I appreciate your attitude and the way you go about your business on things in this board Nomad.

I really appreciate the kind words Adam, and I say the same to you I really hope you get some guys to join you in the Waco Rangers...

On topic, I think what you are describing is very similar to what the devs plan to do with faction units, minus the player controlled part (at least at the onset. They mentioned player controlled faction units would be looked at post launch.) I'm not sure that all faction units should be canon locked, but definitely the main ones (ie the ones most likely to spawn 30 iterations) should be. I feel like the same could apply to the merc companies as well. We'll see what Bryan has to say on the matter.

[wwiiogre]

wow and the flame wars have started, steps back grabs some marshmallows, a beer and relaxes, this could be a good show.

Chris

[Korbyn McColl]

AdamBaines, on 24 April 2012 - 06:57 AM, said:

My feeling on this is that no one should be able to lay claim on Canon unit names, Merc, Pirate, House, etc. It should have to be earned. Ok so you have kicked booty a ton in House Marik in the 13th Marik Millitia, so now your invited to join Rolling Thunder or the Knights. Maybe your a Merc running a private corp and been making good on your contracts? Cool. Wolf's Dragoons (controlled by the Dev team) notice and you get an offer to join. Or there is the opposite. You have been getting your tooshie handed to you as a merc, and so you can only get employment with the dregs like Wilson's Hussars. You can always go and do your own thing as your own merc group, but if you want to play a canon unit, then you have to join them and follow their CoC until you get to a point where you can make the decisions. That's what seems fair. Earn your place and unit name if you want a Canon unit or any of their sub units (ie The Black Widow Company).

EDIT: Yes I know the Rangers are a Canon unit. I will be very excited if I have to drop it if it becomes protected.

That's not a bad idea at all, Adam. But I think it would be a major headache for the devs to implement at this point.

Definitely looking forward to Ekman's clarification.

[FinnMcKool]

and I thought MWO was a movement for world peace?

Edited by FinnMcKool, 24 April 2012 - 08:50 AM.

[wwiiogre]

Finn, that sir is funny. Hurts kind of funny. A war game, about a fictional universe enveloped in an all encompassing war, about peace?

still laughing

chris